


in these hallowed halls

by mrscolesprouse



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alice is a Bitch, Banter, Betty's POV, Betty's a gearhead, Betty's sassy, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Investigations, Investigator Betty, Investigator Jughead, Investigator Kevin (when he feels like it), Jughead's a cop, Kinda, Love, Protective Jughead Jones, Serpent!Jug, Sexual Tension, Southside Serpent Jughead Jones, Strangers to Lovers, bughead - Freeform, investigativeduo!bughead, snarky comments, soft Jughead, the backstory of Jason blossom's death is a little different to the show
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-01-16 13:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18522175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrscolesprouse/pseuds/mrscolesprouse
Summary: “I’m Jughead. I’m from Southside High and I’m a police trainee. Sometimes I work night shifts for extra cash and extra experience. But just because I’m a trainee doesn’t mean I can’t arrest you. You’re clearly trespassing.”“Is this an excuse to use handcuffs on me? I mean come on man, at least buy me dinner first.”-Betty is a hardcore high school investigator and encounters Jughead on a mission. Their connection is flirty and fun but when something happens that gets them thrown together, will they be able to withstand this new relationship regardless of the barriers that block them?





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. Ok, so I couldn't help myself. I started a new fic. I'm just in love with this story already! Don't worry though..."It must be ~fate~" will still be posting but I think I'm going to post this one week, and that one another week. I'm so excited for you guys to read this! This fic was inspired by an image made by @bugheadaus on Insta and you can check out my Tumblr for it.

“Fuck Kevin, this is creepy as hell. Explain to me again why you couldn’t come?”

Betty was currently tackling her newest investigation head on. And of course, it’s a drug investigation surrounding the principal and his possible dealings with the Blossoms.

Cause Riverdale couldn’t get any more convoluted.

Betty Cooper is a detective at heart. Digging and searching clues for a new story was like her foreplay. She thrives off thrill-seeking adventures and hard-hitting exposé’s. Whether she indulges herself in a good crime novel or movie or it is herself that is writing the story, she lives for the thrill of the unknown. This particular escapable is a rather risky one. She was sent to the school, alone, by her sidekick and best friend Kevin Keller, partially for the fact that he did not have the balls to go with her.

Cause  _ she _ has the balls in this friendship.

Betty loves Kevin to death but even Dilton Doiley has bigger balls than him.

_ Metaphorically speaking. _

Not that she’d know literally.

Or that she’d  _ ever _ want to know that piece of disturbing information.

Kevin insisted he’d be there in spirit but two minutes in, and she’s terrified of being alone in the hallowed hallways of an otherwise abandoned school. “Because, my precious Beebee,” Betty rolls her eyes and distances her phone from her ear with a groan. “Mr Weatherbee put me on strict musical detail. Drug Lord or not, I still have to do right by my people of the drama department, and he  _ is _ the principal. I still have to finish scripts, send out emails, organise costuming. I’m a very busy man Liz.”

_ Or just a pathetic excuse of a best friend. _

“And I’m not a busy woman?!” She half whispers, half screams into her phone, her voice, echoing against the metal lockers as she walks down the corridor. She hears Kevin groan in her ear and mumble something that she can’t quite place.

Then she hears a sound in the distance. She freezes, “Wait, I think I heard something.”

The school is one of the oldest buildings in this sleepy town. It has leaky pipes and cracked ceilings. Betty is convinced that she’s just freaking herself out but Riverdale High has its fair share of horror stories. “I swear to God Betty, if you die, I’m never gonna forgive you.” She hears Kevin mumble across the phone which is now clutched tightly in her hand along the side of her body, nowhere near her ear.

To her horror, she sees a flashlight shining in her direction.

Then she hears a voice, “Who’s there?”

Betty brings her phone back to her ear in a fright, “Shit, Kevin…”

Meanwhile, Kevin’s having a full blown panic attack muttering incoherent sentences somewhere along the lines of  _ did you just get caught? oh my god, we’re dead _ and  _ my father’s gonna kill me _ consistently that it’s driving Betty to not even think to bolt before a tall man with dark hair comes up towards her holding a flashlight and a badge. “What do you think you’re doing here princess?”

Clearly, this guy isn’t any older than her. Betty rolls her eyes and hangs up the phone. “Princess? Who are you calling Princess?” She says with a smirk, as she tries to get around him.

He steps in front of her with a huff, “The girl who thinks she can just prance into the school after hours. Here, we call that  _ trespassing _ .” He says, exaggerated as if he was talking to a four-year-old. She’s fucking offended.  _ Who does this guy think he is? _

She flicks her eyes over him quickly then back up to his face, “Sorry...sir, but I’ve never seen you galavanting around these halls before so I don’t really think you can tell me what to do.” She replies with an equal amount of sarcasm, equal amount annoyance.

He exhales loudly and looks to the roof, clearly over it. He looks back down at her expectantly and speaks seriously, “I’m Jughead. I’m from Southside High and I’m a police trainee. Sometimes I work night shifts for extra cash and extra experience. But just because I’m a trainee doesn’t mean I can’t arrest you. You’re clearly trespassing.”

“Is this an excuse to use handcuffs on me? I mean come on man, at least buy me dinner first.” She smirks and moves, once again, to get around him only for his hands to gently come around her waist to stop her.

She clutches his forearms and looks up at him for a moment. She can tell he won’t budge so she looks into his eyes in silence with a curious look. The dim glow of the moonlight beaming through the windows of the hallway, light up his eyes. She can tell they’re blue by the faint light of the abandoned flashlight shining up. He looks down at her  inquisitively and something flickers in his eye but as quick as it’s there, it’s gone before she can look deeper.  Her breathing catches as he steps forward, only to grab her flashlight and shine it in her face. Seemingly unaffected by what just transpired, he looks at her, evidently done with the jokes, “Just tell me what you’re doing here and I’ll let you off.”

“Fine. I’m Betty Cooper. I have a...knack for investigative work.” She looks off, stares at the metal of the lockers and inhales, “I have a very strong inkling that the principal has a connection to the Blossom drug empire; whether he’s dealing or selling, he’s pumping huge sums of money and dumping it in the safe in the teacher’s lounge. And yes, before you ask, I broke into that safe. But there’s no way that that much cash is from student and school funding. I need to get into Weatherbee’s office to sort through his files to see if I can find something that correlates with the Blossom’s files. ”

Having a “knack” for investigative work is a huge understatement considering she  _ 1) _ found out who shot Jason Blossom,  _ 2)  _ discovered the Blossoms maple syrup business is a massive front for their drug running and  _ 3) _ found that all drug hotspots have an underground pipe leading to the South Side where the drugs are manufactured. Betty doesn’t sleep until she unearths the truth on the secrets of Riverdale. Principal Weatherbee’s possible involvement in the drug cartel was disclosed entirely by accident. She stumbled across a file of the Blossoms containing a bank account number strictly belonging to Weatherbee himself. At first, Betty thought it may have been a coincidence but her conscience tingled and indicated differently.  _ There was something deeper going on.  _ And, of course, because she’s brilliant, she was right.

Betty has been undergoing this particular investigation for a month now and she is one step closer to having enough evidence to turning in the whole thing to the police.

(Or, respectively, Sheriff Jones, because she doesn’t trust the justice system in this damn town.)

“Ok...Betty, ” He exhales loudly, “You’re breaking a shit ton of laws but how much money are we talking?”

She throws her hands up defensively and rolls her eyes. “I told you why I’m here, alright? Can you just let me go and I’ll be in and out before you know it? Trust me, I won’t make it a habit of criminal activity, I just had to get in after hours at risk of getting caught.”

He steps forward again and brings his face close to hers, “How. Much. Money?”

“Let’s just say a shit-ton for now and if you let me go get the files, I’ll tell you. Deal?”

“I’ll let you go grab the files if you tell me the amount  _ and  _ give me your number.”

Betty scoffs and smirks, “Hm…” She takes one last step before closing the gap between them. She drags her index finger up his right arm and across his chest and looks up at his face, biting her lip. “Deal.” She whispers before sliding out of his hold and walking in the direction of the office. She stops, peeks over her shoulder and winks at him as she observes his frozen expression. “I’ll be back. “

Jughead swipes his hand over the front of his trousers with a cough and Betty giggles as she walks away.

  
  
  


15 minutes later:

After checking all the file cabinets, Betty was in a bit of a predicament. She searched the drawers and the desk and she hadn’t found anything. As she was about to walk out she swiped her hand across the bookshelf and found the magic file wedged in-between two books.

She lays it down on the desk and opens it. There are sheets and sheets of data dating back to three years ago. Principal Weatherbee is getting paid $2,310 a week but for what? Why? And that’s what Betty had to find out last before handing over this evidence. She packs up the sheets, closes the file and tucks it under her arm. She arranges everything back to how it was before, leaving the office without a trace.

Jughead was standing outside the office door trying to balance his torch on his head. Betty rolls her eyes and walks past him in the direction of the gate she came from. Before she could walk more, he grabs her arm and spins her around. “Hey! We had a deal. Show me the numbers and cough up  _ your _ number.” he says with a smirk.

Betty rolls her eyes, “Fine, here are the files.” She hands him the files and sticks her hand out. He starts to look at files only to look up to have Betty cough to get his attention. “What?”

“Give me your phone dumbass.”

“R-right.” He fumbles and passes her his phone.

She puts her number into his phone and bites her lip as she peers at him under her eyelashes. He looked good in his police jacket and his black hair, falling across his head in haphazard directions like he just rolled out of bed. The light was on now so Betty could see all of him in full glory, from his slim frame to his startling deep aquamarine eyes. His elegantly straight nose, perfectly centred in his face, which was littered in constellations of beauty spots. She notices when his lips turn into a smirk, the dimples that appear.

He coughs with a chuckle, “It’s, uh, not nice to stare. Or, you know, check me out.” She notices he hasn’t looked up from the files but his whole face is lit with a wide smile. For the first time in the night, Betty smiles shyly at him and blushes. She hadn’t intended him to point out her obvious staring. She shakes her head with a laugh, “Are you done? I kinda need to get home before my mom realises I’m gone.”

“Yeah, this is a lot of shit. Do you wanna text me about it later?” Jughead says with a smirk,

“Jughead, I don’t know. I haven’t finished the investigation yet, and when I do, I’m only taking it to the sheriff, not the rest of the police department. This town’s justice system is, no offence, kind of shit.” Betty replies in uncertainty.

“No, I agree. But the sheriff's my dad so I’ll find out either way.”

“Oh right. Ok, then sure.” Betty says with a smile and then looks down feeling suddenly bashful as he observes her with a smile. “Well, I guess this is goodbye for now.” Betty puts her hand on her heart before finishing with mock seriousness, “I solemnly swear to never trespass again.”

“Bye, Betty.”

Betty walks away slowly before she gets a vibration from her phone in her pocket. She stops, grabs her phone and checks the message from an unknown number.

**_?: You’re pretty cute when you’re shy._ **

Betty turns around to find Jughead smiling at his phone and looking up at her. She raises her eyebrow in a smile and looks back down at her phone.

**_Betty: You’re pretty cute when you’re embarrassed._ **

As she walks away she can hear him scoff from the end of the hallway.

  
  
  


As she steps out the school gates, she can hear the notable sound of the pitter-pattering of running feet and Jughead calling for her, “Betty! Betty!”

She turns around with a start and looks curiously at him, “Yeah?”

He arrives in front of her and crouches down, breathing loudly and out of breath, “J-just, wait, give me a sec.” Betty chuckles and he mumbles, almost to himself, “Whew, I am unfit.”

Betty looks at him amusingly and reaches her hand out to help him stand again, “Thanks.”

He rubs his hands on the sides of his pants to brush the dust off and smiles, “I was just wondering how you’re getting home. Do you have a car?”

Betty smiles curiously, “I was just gonna walk. I don’t really live too far from here.”

“It’s late. Let me drive you.”

“You have a car?”

“Kinda…” Jughead smirks before Betty speaks,

“I guess you could drive. I’m pretty tired anyway.”

Jughead nods and leads her to his motorcycle. “This is me,” he says, pointing to his 1991 Harley Fat Boy in jet black. The bike was a gift from Jughead’s father, given to him when he relinquished his title as Serpent King to take a cleaner and safer path in life. It was an older model but in beautiful condition and Jughead has been in love with it years prior to claiming it as his own.

“You drive a Harley? Fuck, this is nice.” Betty runs her hand over the seat and handles of the motorbike and looks back at Jughead’s smug but surprised look. He hasn’t heard Betty swear but he’s immediately decided it’s his favourite thing.

He wonders  _ how _ he can get her to swear again.

“You know bikes?”

“I know engines. I used to fix cars with my dad and I worked at Manny's Auto Repair shop for a few weeks during the summer.”

“You are quite the enigma, aren’t you Cooper?”

She just smirks and observes the beauty again, rotating around it a couple of times before he revs it to life. She shouts over the exhaust, “Sounds good! Might need some tweaking with the bolts though. I could help you one day if you’d like.”

Jughead just nods eagerly and gestures her to get on with him. He puts the helmet on her head and wraps his leather jacket around her cold, fragile body, looking into her eyes again.

And then it happens again.

The spark of something tiny. Miniscule. Just waiting to be brought to the surface. But this time, they both bask in it a little longer. He reaches up to caress her face before his uncomfortable rotation on his bike causes him to fall, toppling himself over and off the bike, essentially ruining the moment. Betty giggles as he haphazardly replants himself on the bike before grabbing her hands, which are loosely wrapped around him, and pulling them tighter against him. She snuggles her chest against his back and he can feel the perk of her breasts leaning against him. He immediately shakes his head at the thought.  _ You don’t know her Jughead, don’t get ahead of yourself. _

Betty taps his stomach signally that he can move and they drive off without a fuss.

  
  


She finally gets it.

As they soar through the open, abandoned roads of Riverdale, she understands the hype of the motorcycle. She’s never ridden on one before, no matter how many she’s fixed working in Manny’s shop over the summer. The wind is blowing through her ponytail, whipping her hair against the helmet and making her laugh. He can feel the vibration of Jughead’s laughter against her chest.

She feels free. Weightless.

She could use more of this at home.

She hasn’t known Jughead for very long but she does know that he seems like a genuinely good person. Just trying his best to do the right thing.

_ (He’s not too bad on the eyes either and that may or may not impact her opinion on him.) _

As they pull up to Elm Street, she asks him to pull over a few blocks away from her house. The noise of the bike may be beautiful, but it will also awake the Fiery Demon herself from her slumber and ultimately see Betty coming in at the late hour. As he puts the bike in break, she stays wrapped around him a little longer just basking in his warmth. He coughs and she realises she may have heald on a  _ tad _ too long. As she climbs off the bike and hands him back his helmet engraved with a little three-point crown, she smiles appreciatively at him. “This night may have started out pretty bad but, I’m happy to have met you Jughead.”

He winks, “Likewise blondie. Make sure you text me so we can organise a day to fix up my bike a little bit.”

She nods eagerly, excited at the prospect of fixing his bike up with him. Before she knows it, he’s saluted and winked her goodbye.

Betty stares at the place he had previously vacated and exhales.

  
  


Betty pulls her backpack firmly over her shoulders when she reaches her side of the house, where her window faces directly parallel to Archie’s. She quietly rotates the ladder that leans horizontally across the side of her house, vertically and leans it against the window. It’s quite heavy but Betty’s never been one to give up. When she’s certain the ladder won’t let her fall to her death, she begins the climb and arrives a minute later to her window. She’d left it ajar prior to her escape to the school so all she had to do was pull it up a bit taller and climb through to safety. She completely misses the shadow that’s watching her. Her house was dark and silent but she was safe.

Closing her window, she walks over to her bed and unzips her backpack. She pulls out the files, smoothes them down to avoid creases and walks over to her clothing drawers. She tucks it under her underwear pile and closes the drawer before walking over to her backpack again. She unpacks her bag, making everything neat and organised just as Alice Cooper had engraved into her. She packs her bag into her cardboard and heads to her drawer to get changed. Right as she lifts her shirt off, she gets a message. Suspecting it’s Jughead she smiles, only to see that it’s Kevin.

**_Kevin: Nancy. You better not be dead. Please tell me you're home._ **

**_Betty: Yes partner. I have arrived safely and I’m just getting ready for bed._ **

**_Kevin: Okayyy so what happened?_ **

Betty rolls her eyes and continues getting dressed before grabbing her phone and settling into bed. She replies to him,

**_Betty: Did you know that we hired a Southside student/police trainee to guard our school at night?_ **

**_Kevin: NO???!!! But I_ ** **do** **_know that Joaquin said something about all the old Serpent teens becoming police trainees. I think it’s cute. Plus, those boys look H-O-T in their uniforms._ **

Betty rolls her eyes once again at her best friend,  **_Betty: Well anyway, some guy saw me and caught me. But I used my great flirting and negotiation skills to get him to let me go._ **

**_Kevin: Slay girl! Ok, but was he cute? Is he our age? That’s the real shit I need to know._ **

**_Betty: Hmm...I’m gonna head to bed._ **

**_Kevin: HE IS! Did you get his number?_ **

**_Betty: Maybe._ **

**_Kevin: You go, girl! When was the last time you were in a relationship? You broke up with Trev like 6 months ago...Time to get back out there._ **

**_Betty: I love you Kevin and as much as I’d_ ** **love** **_to keep talking about this, I’m gonna head to bed._ **

**_Kevin: Ok, but this conversation is nowhere near over._ **

**_Betty: Noted. Night Kev._ **

**_Kevin: Night B. Love you._ **

**_Betty: Love you too._ **

She packs her phone away and snuggles down into the sanctuary of her bed. Her pink floral sheets surround her as her mind drifts to Jughead. He was charming and sarcastic and kept up with her stupid wit. He also kept her on her toes and she was drawn to him. They were bursting with sexual energy and although they hadn’t known each other long, she was pretty sure she was going to kiss him tonight.

Her last thought before sleep is the image of blue eyes, swimming around her mind.  
  
  


The morning comes quicker than Betty would like it too. She wakes up from her slumber with the harsh light of the sun coming flooding into her room as her mother opens the window with a slam.  _ Way to make an entrance Mom.  _ Her mother has always forced Betty’s sleeping patterns to be from 6 AM sharp, implying that she can’t change the world any later. She always forces excellence and perfection, and when Betty thinks she’s satisfied those expectations, her mother looks on disapproving.

Like  _ she  _ was the one that was  _ selling _ the drugs she was trying to bust down.

Betty  _ tries _ to know that this is just her mother's way of protecting her and making her the best person she can be. She  _ tries  _ to remember how her mother grew up and that she’s just trying to make her life as fulfilled as possible.

But when Betty’s tearing her hands up in the bathroom after her mother has looked at her like she’s a disappointment, then she hates her. She thinks her mother is doing it in spite of her for being not good enough. She thinks that her mother just hates her. Why would any good mother do this to their child? Raise them with the harsh expectation of perfection.

But Betty’s her own person. And her mouth has never been on her mother’s side. Always making snide comments or muttering under her breath. She just can’t help it. She doesn’t have a filter and unfortunately, it can bite her in the ass.

With Jughead, it seemed to bring him in but with her mother, it seems to push her away. Like, she’s just failing at what her mother had envisioned for her.

A life of perfection.

Betty’s learning to become someone  _ she _ can be proud of and not the byproduct of a Stepford family housewife. Not shielded by the light provided from others that her mother doesn’t deem appropriate. Like Veronica. Betty loves V to death but her mother does not approve. She won’t have the  _ daughter of criminals  _ associated with the likes of a Cooper. If someone like Jughead was to even walk on the Northside, Alice would write a full two-page spread claiming criminal activity. It wouldn’t even matter that his father is the sheriff, if he was somehow connected to the Southside, she’d spit on them. Like  _ she  _ wasn’t born and bred from that side of town.

When Betty had brought  _ that _ subject up, Alice huffed and puffed and exited without speaking a word.

Betty sits up and rubs the heels of her hands into her eyes while Alice collects the jacket that laid on Betty’s desk and places it in a laundry basket. “Mom,  _ come on!  _ It’s Sunday!”

“Yes, and you could use a run. You’ve been spending too much time at Pop’s with that delinquent. She’s a bad influence on you.” Alice comes and sits on Betty’s bed and places the basket on her lap neatly.

Choosing to ignore Alice’s comment on her weight, Betty speaks up, “Veronica? Mom, she has a name and she’s a good person.”

Alice reaches for Betty's face and rubs her chin tenderly, “I’d rather you not spend time with her dear. She’s raised by--”

“Criminals?” Betty snorts and looks off to the side, causing her mother’s hand to drop. She can’t even face her right now.

“Yes. Hiram and Hermione are  _ bad  _ people. I’m just trying to protect you.”

“P-protect me? Veronica is  _ nothing  _ like them.”

Alice ponders for a moment before standing, “Be down for breakfast at 6:15. I made an egg white omelette for you.”

Betty admits defeat and turns to look at her bedside clock to check the time: 6:09 AM

“Oh, You’ve  _ got  _ to be kidding me.” She mutters and swings her legs off the edge of the bed. She contemplates going back to sleep for a minute before sighing and standing up. She could at least eat what her mother made her.

_ Her.  _ Because there’s no one left. Because her sister and dad left and she’s stuck with her mom.

She rises from her bed and walks over to her dresser. She opens her underwear drawer and searches for a bra and then stops. The file’s gone.  _ How, the fuck, is the file gone?  _ She searches frantically for it, pulling out all her clothes, searching all the drawers but it’s no luck. It’s gone. She runs over to her window and sees the ladder still left leaning on the side of her house.  _ Someone came through my window,  _ she thinks as she shuts it with a bang. She runs back over to her dresser in panic, not quite knowing what to do.

Was it Jughead? He was the only one who knew that she had the file. It’s the only logical answer.

Or did someone follow her? That’s what scared her the most.

She shoves all her clothes back into her drawer haphazardly and walks to her bedside table with purpose. She grabs her phone, opens it and pulls up to her contacts. She presses Jughead and it rings four times before he answers. His voice sounds husky, “Wow, it’s fucking early. Betty, I met you last night and you’re calling me now? You’ll come to find out I don’t get up till 12 on a Sunday. Or ever.”

Betty wants to giggle and note him on his sexy voice but instead, she talks frantically, “Jughead. Please tell me  _ you  _ broke into my house and stole the file and it wasn’t someone who followed me?”

“What?! Wait wait wait, hold up. Someone broke into your house?”

“Shit.” She mutters to herself, realising the truth before continuing, “Please tell me the truth. If you did, I won’t be mad.”

“I swear to  _ God _ Betty. I went straight home.”

“Fuck. Jug. Someone climbed through my window and grabbed the file out of my drawer. I was exhausted and I must have been sleeping pretty deep.”

“Jesus Christ.” Betty hears shuffling on the other side of the phone and she realises he has gotten out of bed, “How could they even get in?”

“I have a ladder leaning up against my window that I use to climb in. I left it leaning last night because I didn’t want to make too much noise by going back downstairs and putting it away.” Betty paces her room. Not only is she terrified, but she’s pretty fucking pissed. Someone stole the file and she has no idea how to get it back. She didn’t even get to take pictures of it first. She groans in frustration. “Jughead, I’m so fucking pissed right now. I lost the files.”

“Betty, forget the files. Someone was in your room last night.”

Betty’s face breaks into a smile. “Aww Juggie, are you worried about me? How sweet!”

“Shut up!” He says angrily but she can tell he’s smiling.

She becomes serious again, “But really, I’m okay. I’m pissed because I don’t even know where to start looking for it.”

“I’ll help you. From now on, anything you do for this investigation, you’re doing it with me. I’m serious.”

“Thanks, but I have Kevin.”

“Oh yeah, the guy who didn’t come last night. The one you were on the phone with?”

“Fine. You can come. I’ll text you later. “

“Ok. Please be safe today. And keep a lookout for anyone that may be acting suspicious around you.”

“Will do. Thank you Jughead.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

She hangs up and sits on her bed with a huff. Before she can think any more, her mother calls from downstairs, “Elizabeth! It’s 6:16! We do not accept unpunctuality in this household!”

Betty rubs her fingers against her temples, feeling a headache coming. Ignoring her mother, she lays back onto her bed taking in the reality of the situation. Jughead’s right. Someone  _ did _ break into her room while she was sleeping and that’s terrifying. She shivers at the thought at someone watching her sleep. Betty grabs the covers and pulls them over her.

The files are gone.

And this investigation just got a whole lot harder.

  
  
  
tbc 


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Jughead. What is it?” She can see pure horror on his face as she can see him recount what he’s about to tell her.
> 
> “Dammit, I hate...absolutely hate...that I’m telling you this right now, but they found Clifford Blossom…”
> 
> She looks at him with confusion and he exhales loudly before finishing, “...hanging. They found him hanging...like he killed himself but I don’t think he committed suicide. And that’s not even the worst part.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. So your girl has had a tough month in terms of mental health. I had no motivation to get up let alone write so I'm so sorry this is late. "It must be fate" is also on the way. I have been writing but it's been hard to edit as well. Please disregard any mistakes as this is an unbeta'd fic and I try my hardest to edit buuuut sometimes they kinda slip through and I miss some bits. I hope this chapter makes sense...I'm kind of just setting down the groundwork. I'm going to try a little harder to make this a slow burn sooo I'm slowing it down a tad....hehe ;)
> 
> Please enjoy!

Her mind is in a constant state of availability. Is always  _ on.  _ From thinking of what to investigate next, to who she has to shake down, to what her mother wants from her now, she never stops. She never gets the chance to be her own person. To do her own thing. Read a new book, take a walk down the lake without it being the expectation of exercise. To breathe the fresh air next to Sweetwater River and lay in grass as she basks in the silence. To hear the chirp of the birds or the run of the water. To feel at peace. She never gets time to have a sleepover at Veronica’s or even listen to Archie’s ( _ terrible _ ) new music.

Now,  _ this _ . The lost files, the new friend, another unsolved branch that is the tree of this investigation.

It’s too much and she needs a break.

She constantly breaks her back to withhold the standards of her mother’s askings and the  _ town’s _ askings.

She needs a minute.

So, without her mother’s permission  _ (because even though she’s almost 18, she needs permission to leave the house,) _ she  _ does  _ take a walk.

It’s almost the middle of the day and after  _ finally _ getting out of bed, she forgoes the egg white omelette and is taking a walk to Pop’s in hopes of eating a cheeseburger because _ she feels like it _ .

With the ring of Pop’s iconic bell, she enters with the wafting smell of freshly made burgers and coffee. She almost salivates at the smell.

“Betty! If it isn’t one of my favourite customers! I missed you lately, where’ve you been!”

Betty smiles at Pop from behind the counter and walks up to engulf him in a bear-like hug. No matter how many times her mother insists that she’s sitting at a booth behind her back, she actually hasn’t been to Pop’s in a few months, as she’s been constantly juggling everything on her plate. Seeing Pop and seeing the light of the red neon sign eases a little bit of the very prominent tension in her shoulders.

“I’ve missed you Pop!” Betty smiles on an exhale as she unwraps herself from Pop’s embrace. Pop is like the town’s grandfather, always giving out extra pieces of advice with a free piece of pie. Always offering a warm smile to those who are feeling a little blue. Everyone can always count on Pop to make them feel a little better.  “It’s been a busy few months for me.” She smiles sadly.

“So I’ve heard. I’m very proud of you Betty. I don’t feel like people say it enough but I’ve seen you grow and I’m so  _ proud _ of the woman you’ve become.”

Betty feels her lip quiver and her eyes pool with tears before she lets out a cheerful sob, “Pop, thank you so much. You have  _ no  _ idea how much I needed to see you today...or be here. I’ve missed this.”

“Well take any seat my darling. This is your home after all. Watch out for Nighthawk though. He’s been here since 6:30 this morning.” Pop shakes his head disapproving and she turns her head to see Jughead already looking at her with a smirk.

Betty chuckles and turns back to Pop, “I’ll just get what I usually get Pop. I’ll go give “Nighthawk” a few words.” Pop nods and smiles before turning his attention to her order.

Betty turns and walks left to the booth in the middle located next to the windows. Before Betty could speak Jughead smirks, “Were you just...crying?”

“Oh  _ shut up _ .” She rolls her eyes and mocks with a cheeky smile.

Jughead rolls his eyes and smiles, “So. Pop told you my nickname. Seems as if you guys are close.”

Betty sits across from him and looks out the window when something catches her attention. The car park is slowly getting fuller as the minutes' tick by, people queueing in to eat Pop’s world-class burgers. That’s when she notices a distinctive redhead in a convertible eyeing her through the window before speeding off, “That was weird.” Betty mutters before she turns back to Jughead, “Sorry, what did you say?”

“I just said you and Pop seem close. What just happened?” He says quickly as he looks out the window to see what she was just looking at.

“I swear I just saw Cheryl’s convertible speed off right as I locked eyes with her.” She looks back to Jughead, “That’s pretty suspicious right?”

“Yeah, but why would Cheryl Blossom, of  _ all _ people, break into your house for the files?”

“I’m not saying Cheryl would do that, cause she  _ definitely  _ would not, but that was suspicious considering I  _ am _ investigating  _ her  _ family.”

“Yeah.” Jughead bites his lip and looks at Betty curiously, “Are you okay? You have more tension in your shoulders then you did yesterday. Relax.” Jughead says softly, before smirking, “You look like you have a stick up your ass.”

Betty scoffs, “Oh and you’d  _ love  _ to take it out, wouldn’t you?” Betty rolls her eyes before continuing. “You know you actually had me there for a moment. I thought you cared.” Betty shakes her head, annoyed before Jughead grabs her hands on the table.

“I  _ do _ care.” He says, softly.

Betty rolls her eyes and takes her hands out of his own, but smiles before turning serious again, “I’m just--” she exhales and rolls her shoulders back, “--stressed. I’m fucking stressed.”

“Ok, so...let’s  _ not _ talk about the missing files or the Blossoms. Tell me...what you’re planning to do after school ends.”

Betty smiles softly at Jughead before observing him for a moment. A beanie lay on his head in the shape of a crown that wasn’t there when they met the night before and he’s wearing a denim sherpa jacket that looks ten sizes bigger than anything she could ever wear. He’s smiling shyly at her and she thinks she can see a hint of pink on the apples of his cheeks. He’s so cute when he’s embarrassed.

“I--” she chuckles lightly with the realisation that he’s trying to make her feel better, “--want to be a lawyer or, you know, a detective. I haven’t got it  _ totally  _ figured out yet. Both options are  _ not _ what my mother wants for me.” She finishes with a bitter laugh.

“Hey, I think you would be great at either of those jobs. Like you’re  _ so _ outspoken. You’d be good as a lawyer.” Jughead smirks before Betty sticks her tongue out at him,  “So, college?” He continues.

“I applied. Still waiting. How about you?”

He’s about to speak when Pop comes over and gives Betty her vanilla milkshake, burger and fries. “Thanks, Pop.” He just winks before leaving again.

“I applied to a couple but I doubt I’ll go. My family’s had a tough go at it. Mom and sister left my dad and I stranded. Dad wasn’t in a...good place then. Now we’re both working for the police but...my mom hasn’t come back. I kinda don’t want to leave my dad..” He smiles sadly.

Realising he’s still holding her hands, she rubs her thumbs on his palm and looks down at their intertwined fingers. “I-I thought life would get harder when we left school, but we haven’t even left yet and I’m packed to the brim of things to do and people to impress.”

Jughead looks down into Betty’s eyes as she plays with their hands. A spark seems to go off and everything in Pop’s seems to blur as he focuses on the timid frame of the girl sitting across from him. Her eyes are red-rimmed and dark and her lip quivers with the intention of letting tears fall, yet they do not come. She continues playing with their hands as Jughead rubs his thumbs against hers. Betty’s eyes stare into nothing as Jughead observes  _ her  _ for a moment. He looks down at their hands before speaking again, “I-I wish we could all just go. Just jump on a motorcycle and just leave Riverdale. Leave behind our parents, our expectations and just go.”

Betty looks up to see Jughead watching her again and she takes a short intake of breath. He’s looking at her with a softness and concern but also with admiration. It makes Betty heart pound and her stomach flutter with butterflies. “I-I’m not hungry anymore.” She let’s go of Jughead’s hands and begins to stand up. Jughead looks on, confused as she takes out money and places it on the bench, “Go ahead and eat. I’m gonna head home.”

“W-wait. Betty.” He begins to stand before Betty stops him,

“No, Jughead. You’re just helping me with the investigation. I don’t know what just happened here, but that’s it.  _ Nothing  _ more.” She swallows harshly and walks away from Jughead who’s wondering what switch just flicked. How  _ he _ was the one who just got cut off.

As he watches Betty walk out of Pop’s and in the opposite direction to which she came, he can’t but this that this is beginning of a reckoning.

The calm before the weathered storm.

  
  
  
  


Betty walks with purpose in the direction of Sweetwater River. Her safe haven and place where she intends to cool off her nerves. Jughead is being too good and too overwhelming, with his soft smile and kind words. As she walks, she is very harshly pushing down on the inside of her hand but  _ not  _ drawing blood.

She counts it as a win as she uncurls her hands.

Betty’s never liked the populated area of Sweetwater River. Where the occasional tourist with an adventurous nature would venture up from New York, find their small, quaint town and park themselves at the river. It is certainly beautiful with its surrounding forest and vegetation circling the perimeter and she can understand it’s allure for the people, but the days where she longed for privacy, she liked to be in her own place.

Her and Archie found their place a little after her 12th birthday when her mother had hassled her after eating a few too many slices of leftover birthday cake. Betty had gone across the yard to Archie’s house to find him huddled in his back porch wooden chair that Fred made with his bare hands. He was crying silently and Betty could hear the shouts of Mr and Mrs Andrews. Betty had grabbed Archie’s hand and they had run as fast as their little legs could take them, down Elm Street and in the direction of greener pastures. When they had made it to Sweetwater Swimming hole, they walked around where they normally swam in summer and after 15 minutes, they’d found a spot a little ways past the Northside into the Southside. They’d sat in silence but they just  _ knew  _ this would be there spot.

Archie still brings Veronica here, just like he used to bring her, Valerie, Josie and Cheryl (at one confusing point where Cheryl hadn’t come out yet,) with the intention of getting lucky. When he had broken Betty’s heart and moved on, she swore herself off  _ their _ spot and she hadn’t returned.

But now, she finds herself wandering to the spot where she had her first kiss, where she acknowledged her mental health issues to herself for the first time and when she cried when Polly had left. 

Not her father though. She almost laughed when he left.  _ Almost. _

The rock she used to perch herself on, that she deemed “Betty’s Point,” had moss-grown over it and weeds growing up the sides, whereas Archie’s stone was a clean as a hospital, shined like marble. As Betty dusted off her rock and sat down, she snorted at all the times she thought her and Archie were “meant-to-be.” Archie was too thick-headed to realise that the world didn’t revolve around his masculinity and how many girls he planned to hook up with. Although she was ultimately heartbroken at the news that he had feelings for Val, she remembered her silent sigh of relief.

Betty looks over to the patch of grass that still stood tall and remembers the time they had brought Vegas down for Archie’s 16th birthday, one of the last days she was down here. This place holds so many memories and she takes a deep inhale of the fresh oxygen coming off the trees around her. She stands, walks past the swallow of trees and takes off her shoes to step in the small portion of sand leading up to the water. She rolls up the bottom of her pants and feels the grainy sand pass through her toes as she walks to the water.

She feels it rush to her ankles but she keeps walking until it comes up to her knees, ultimately soaking the bottom of her pants therefore completely defeating rolling them up in the first place. She closes her eyes and breathes in what she feels like peace would be like. She closes her eyes to all her problems and shakes off Jughead, shakes off the Blossoms, Cheryl, the files, Weatherbee, hell, even Kevin as she basks in the glow of the afternoon sun.

Her eyes snap open when she thinks she hears the sound of screaming in the distance but eventually shakes it off as her mind playing tricks on her.

 

A little while later, she leaves the water, grabs her shoes and walks back, barefoot, in the direction of her house.

Not her  _ home. _

_ She feels like she doesn’t have one of those anymore. _

With her shoes in her hands, she walks down the road that inevitably leads her to her house and comes to a halt when she sees Jughead sitting on her steps, waiting for her. As she approaches the front steps, she whispers timidly, “Jughead? What are you doing here?”

“Betty. Oh my god! Thank God.” Jughead looks frantic and relieved to see her and she looks at him suspiciously. “One, I’m sorry if I did something to upset you. I didn’t mean to. Two, and the more...disturbing reason I’m here…”

“Jughead. What is it?” She can see pure horror on his face as she can see him recount what he’s about to tell her.

“Dammit, I _hate_...absolutely hate...that I’m telling you this  _ right now _ , but they found Clifford Blossom…”

She looks at him with confusion and he exhales loudly before finishing, “...hanging. They found him hanging...like he killed himself but  _ I _ don’t think he committed suicide. And that’s not even the worst part.”

Betty eyeballs feel like they are protruding out of her head as she tries to comprehend what she’s hearing. “Killed himself?! What's...the worst part?” she says, almost terrified to hear him continue.

“We already knew the Blossoms were part of the drug cartel in Riverdale but it’s much bigger than we thought. He had heroin surrounding around his body when Cheryl found him...a-and they found a note, addressed to “The Sugarman.” Something about putting him in charge.” Jughead sits back down and bites his lip in concentration. He runs his hands over his face and Betty sits next to him as she stares into space.

Fuck.

Life just keeps getting better and better.

“Great. Ok. So...Clifford’s dead. There’s a Sugarman? And the files are gone.” Betty nods her head, stands again and begins to pace, “Plus...you’re here.”

“What do I have to do with anything?” Jughead looks at Betty curiously as she paces.

Betty stops and waves her hands between them, “I don’t have time to explore whatever  _ this _ is. I think it’s best if we don’t hang out with each other. I can't have  _ this _ compromising  _ my _ investigation”

Jughead raises an eyebrow and stands. He grabs Betty’s arms and stops she stops paces. “Whatever  _ this  _ is?” He exhales and Betty looks away almost embarrassed. He studies her for a moment before admitting defeat and biting his lip. He nods in understanding, “Okay. If you think me being here is distracting you, I’ll just investigate on my own and I’ll come back to you if I find anything.”

Betty looks at him guiltily and nods. “I’m sorry Jughead. You have my number if you find anything.” Jughead lets go of Betty’s arms and walks over to his bike. He straddles his bike, looks at her again, nods and puts his helmet on. He drives away and Betty runs up her stairs, into her house and into her room.  
  


 

 

Shaking her head off of all things Jughead, she messages Kevin for his help.

**_Betty: Remember those files I went to school for last night? They’re gone. In massive need of a sidekick. You there?_ **

Betty waits a few minutes and with no message coming in, Betty resorts to her next order of business.

Betty needs to talk to Cheryl.

Clearly, when she was at Sweetwater River, the scream she heard was no doubt a cry from Cheryl, rumbling Thornhill’s walls, leading all the way down from the high horse the Blossoms live on, to the river, making Betty hear it. 

Cheryl and Betty have a very complicated relationship, from Cheryl’s passive-aggressive digs at Betty’s figure, to Cheryl’s secret appreciation for her company. They both have mutual hate and love for each other. Behind the closed doors of the Cooper house or in the depths of Fox Forest, they enjoy each other’s company and it was Betty who helped Cheryl deal with her sexuality and the complications of it within a household where Penelope Blossom lives. But in the halls of Riverdale High, where Cheryl wears her HBIC cheerleading baseball tee proud, it’s as if all the nights spent crying in Betty’s arms are forgotten and the main priority is having the love,  _ that she doesn’t get at home _ , from the student body. Sitting in a booth at Pop’s was also  _ not _ a place where their friendship could bloom, with Cheryl being shadowed by Ginger and Tina. 

Betty doesn’t want to head to the murder house directly as Cheryl’s probably being bombarded with reporters and the police, so she sends Cheryl a text.

**_Betty: Cher, I heard what happened and wanted to check in. Wanna meet at Fox Footbridge?_ **

Cheryl’s message is immediate. 

**_Cheryl: Yes. Oh my god, I need to get out of here Betty. I’m suffocated from mother’s constant need to interrogate everyone and her acting particularly suspicious. I’ll be there in 10._ **

Betty feels a little bad at using what is ultimately Cheryl’s feelings about the whole ordeal to get answers for what could’ve possibly happened to her father, but if Betty were to try to lure her away with the intention of even more interrogating, there’s no way she’d come. Betty grabs her bag, heads back downstairs and begins the walk to Fox Forest.

 

Cheryl is late because of course, she is. Always needing to make a dramatic entrance even in the news of her father’s death making its rounds around Riverdale. She comes strutting over to Betty in her Christian Louboutin heels, stepping over rocks and acting as if she  _ didn’t  _ just see her father hanging from a noose. 

“Betty dear! You’re looking,” she rakes her eyes across Betty’s appearance, “horrible, honestly. I’m surprised Polly used to let you leave the house like that but she’s not there anymore so let’s not criticise poor little Pollykins.”

Betty rolls her eyes, “Yes but let’s criticise me. Quit the act and come give me a hug.” 

Cheryl scoffs but she does come and give Betty a hug. When they separate, they walk over to the bench that is seated next to the lake and sit. Betty grabs Cheryl’s hands and Cheryl takes a deep exhale, already knowing what’s coming, “Betty. I know you care about me but I know why you’re  _ really  _ here. To get answers about Daddy. Look. I’m going to be straight. If you investigate this, it’s going to be tough. The Sugarman is not to be messed with.”

Betty furrows her brows and let’s go of Cheryl’s hands, “Cheryl, do you know  _ who _ this “Sugarman” person is? Why would your father write basically his suicide note, the last note he’ll ever make, to this nameless, faceless person and not, say, his family?”

Cheryl scoffs and shakes her head as if it is a silly question, “Daddy is-was a horrible father. He doesn’t care about his whore of a wife and lesbian of a daughter. He only cared about Jason. And when our uncle shot him, all Daddy’s plans were ruined. Why do you think he killed himself? He had no one left to care about.” Cheryl says, with no remorse or feeling. 

Cheryl didn’t  _ look  _ hurt but Betty knows that she’s dealt with the insecurity of coming second best for her whole life. 

Jason was the golden boy. The star of the Blossom family and the heir to their throne. Clifford always prefered Jason and still prefered him after he was shot in the head by Claudius Blossom, his own brother. Jason was the man of the house and their family was raised to respect the men over the women.

Because families like that still exist.

Cheryl is seen as the little, privileged rich girl who is stubborn and likes girls. She was and still is completely neglected by her family for just simply being a girl. Betty is always there to comfort Cheryl as if she were her own sister. 

Claudius shooting his nephew raised quite a few inquiries about if the Blossom family were _sane_ enough to continue the legacy of maple syrup. Many meetings and hearings were heard to conduct whether or not the Lodges should take over. Only then did Betty discover that “maple syrup” really meant “jingle jangle.” For decades, not only were they producing syrupy goodness, but they were also creating straws of death and transporting them under the ground using secret pipes used by soldiers in war. It was then thought that _The Serpents_ were his dealers only to find out a thug gang called _The_ _Ghoulies_ spread the jingle jangle amongst the streets. Jason was next in line to take over for Clifford and with him eager and ready to accept the title, Claudius was put on the backburner. With a larger portion of the funds going to the “leader” of the drug cartel, Claudius felt that Jason was unworthy so he killed him in cold blood. 

Now, the public didn’t know any of this, except for the fact that Claudius killed Jason because he was next in line for the family maple syrup business. 

Case closed. That’s it. 

But Betty discovered a whole other underground world. She discovered their jingle jangle connection and alerted Sheriff Jones. But now heroin was involved and their drug running just got blown up. 

She  _ just _ needed to know how Weatherbee fit into all this and  _ now,  _ who this “Sugarman” person is. 

_ She needed to shut this shit down. _

Betty shook her head and Cheryl continued, “As for the  _ Sugarman, _ No. I don’t know who it is. Daddy treated  _ The Sugarman _ like a boogeyman under the bed. Someone we should fear but would always be there. I have no idea who it is. But Betty, he’s dangerous. He takes care of  _ all  _ the drugs, the jingle, the heroin, even meth and some weird new drug Daddy started called “Frizzle rocks.” 

_ Shit.  _ “More drugs?” Betty shakes her head in disbelief but Cheryl isn’t finished yet, “I’m scared now that Daddy’s gone that they’ll go ahead with their plans to merge with the Lodges and that they’ll become involved in this whole affair.” 

“Fuck. Cheryl this is bad.”

“Yeah. I know. I just want out. When we graduate, I’m flying to Europe. That’s it. I hate my family.”

Betty nods and after a few minutes, remembers her behaviour from earlier, “Hey why were you acting sketchy at Pop’s this morning?”

“I was just watching to see what you were investigating. I need you to be safe Betty, the Sugarman is dangerous.”

Sensing Cheryl’s conclusion with the conversation, Betty thanks her, hugs her and tells her if she needs anyone, she’ll be there. They bid each other goodbye and Betty pulls her phone out of her pocket to end the video recording. 

Itching to message Jughead, she pulls up 1 unread message from Kevin instead,

**_Kevin: Shit Betty. How did someone steal the files?_ **

**_Betty: Someone broke into my house last night while I slept._ **

**_Kevin: wHaT?! Betty WTF!!_ **

**_Betty: Yeah._ **

**_Kevin: Was it that cute police guy? Wasn’t he the only one besides me who knew you had it?_ **

**_Betty: It couldn’t have been him._ **

**_Kevin: You don’t know this guy. Of course it could’ve been him._ **

Betty sighs and stands from the bench, beginning to walk back home. She didn’t want to think about Jughead. She connects with him in a way she’s never connected to anyone before. His blue eyes feeling like a welcoming pool of ocean, just waiting to give her the silence she needs. His touch, in the booth today, was so soft and gentle. His exterior was tough but when he saw Betty spiralling, he distracted her, asked her about college and tried to make her laugh. He was too good. He  _ is _ too good. 

**_Betty: I don’t know. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about him. I have new intel and I need to meet with you. Come to school early tomorrow?_ **

**_Kevin: 7:30 Blue and Gold Office?_ **

**_Betty: Yep. See you there._ **

  
  
  
  


The school is quiet albeit the scuff of her keds echoing in the hallways. It is just past 7:30 and Betty is walking towards the B&G office to meet with Kevin. A few staff members are already there, setting up for their classes. The janitor is sweeping the floors and dancing quietly to the radio blasting in his earbuds. 

There’s a peacefulness in the silence that surrounds her. It almost makes her forget about Clifford or Weatherbee or the lost files. The eerie echo of her shoes against the floor, bouncing off the metal of the lockers makes her forget, for a  _ split _ second, about Jughead. Betty walks into the office and walks to sits at her desk when she stops short when she notices a familiar looking file laying haphazardly on the floral placemat she had decorated the desk with. The file sits, open, with pages spread across.

“What the fuck?” She all but runs to the edge of her desk and start to dig through the papers as if they’re not actually there. 

Kevin comes in with two cups of coffee from Pop’s and a cheery smile. He eyes the files and smiles, 

“Hey, I...uh...found the files just sitting in Pop’s this morning.” But he’s not meeting her eyes. They keep flickering to the peeling ceiling that Betty looks at any time she gets a block in her writing. Betty observes him for a moment before she beams at the sight of coffee.

“Well that’s weird as hell but it’s too early to think about how they got there and I haven’t had my coffee yet.” 

Only then, when Kevin is handing Betty her coffee, does he look at her. 

“Yeah, well I went through them and it just confirms what we thought already. He’s involved.” Kevin pulls out the chair and sits. “So,” He leans back and lays his legs on the desk while taking a sip of his coffee, “What “new intel” do you have for me? Does it have anything to do with Clifford Blossom’s weird slash sketchy so-called “suicide?” 

“Yeah, well Cheryl said something about how the Lodges might be involved somehow. I was thinking maybe you could investigate that? I’m trying to deal with all this “Sugarman” bullshit so I need your help.” Betty says as she leans back against the desk, facing Kevin perpendicularly.

Kevin looks at Betty perplexedly and tilts his head, “But, we love V. We don’t want her getting involved or...implement her family somehow.”

“I know Kevin,” Betty exhales, leans off the desk and begins to pace the room, “But we...don’t really have a choice in the matter. If they’re involved, it’s just another puzzle piece that we have to solve.”

“B, it’s a whole new board. The Lodges get involved and so do they’re weird, shady mafia background.”

Betty chews her lip for a moment. Kevin’s right. Veronica’s family is a whole new ball game, with Hiram’s rumours of embezzlement being swept under the rug prior to the Lodges moving to Riverdale, with their possible ties to the underworld and Russian mafia. Her family has already been accused of so much. 

“It’s not unrealistic that this could be true. That V’s family could be involved. Hiram is suspicious and slippery as fuck.”

“Maybe we should focus on the Sugarman before we bring  _ more  _ suspects. Plus, we have Clifford’s dubious suicide to think about.”

Betty sits on the couch and puts her head in her heads before looking at Kevin again. “Yeah. You’re right. I gotta focus on the important stuff.”

Kevin grins and stands abruptly, “Well. This has been liberating and I  _ love _ Riverdale. How many more people have to die and sell drugs for this town to get shut down?”

Betty chuckles and stands, “Thanks Kev. I know this has been insane but it’s just the beginning.” she embraces him in a hug and he leaves with the turn of his head. 

Betty observes the door with which Kevin just walked out of and ponders, “Now why, my precious Kevin, did you steal those files?” 

  
  
  


 

tbc

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU ARE FOOLED! is it kevin? 
> 
> This is just the beginning...
> 
> Kudos are much appreciated especially for a newbie like me :)
> 
> If you want more...comment :P
> 
> and/or...
> 
> follow me on Tumblr: @mrscolesprouse, on Twitter @mrscolesprouse_ and on Insta @mrscolesprouse__


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I feel like my own brain is trying to tell something.” 
> 
> He’s silent. Completely silent. She wants to ask if he’s still there but she knows he is because the phone call is still on. Then she hears a whisper, “Maybe you should listen to it.”
> 
> or
> 
> A chapter where even though I wanted to separate them...I can't write angst for shit...so they come back together and have a lot of sexual tension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *crickets* 
> 
> SOOOOOOO...4 months...
> 
> I'm going to be straight up and tell you that these past few months have been about me and my mental health. I went to Italy for a month and wrote a couple of oneshots (which have yet to be uploaded.) I started a couple shows on Netflix and also watched all of Euphoria in one day on an illegal website that may have bugged my laptop but #noregrets because that show was BOMB. I read a shit-ton of fanfics...like an unhealthy amount...and reread fanfics that I've already read before. I'm completely neglecting any and all schoolwork I need to do but oh well. 
> 
> It's been a therapeutic few months and I'm sorry that it took so long to get this chapter out. 
> 
> Please enjoy this chapter...
> 
> I also need a beta real bad so PLS hit me up. :)

It’s dark. 

_ Really _ fucking dark. 

Swirling darkness all around. Nothing but black billowing around her. It’s quiet. It’s calm. She doesn’t think she’s ever felt so calm in her life. The blackness is suffocating but it feels cozy and warm against her skin. 

It’s constantly moving. It isn’t the type of blackness she experiences when it’s dark in her room at night and her eyes haven’t adjusted yet. It’s moving, but like gas, when she tries to grab it, it slips through her fingers. 

All of a sudden there’s a light. A flickering orange light far out in the distance. It’s not very big but it’s there and as she starts to move towards it, she realises she’s stuck. She looks down and it looks like her feet are almost glued to the darkness. As she looks back up again, the light has come closer and she realises it’s fire. And it’s spreading. 

The flame is blaring, high and bright, scattered around acres and acres of her mind. Crackling, deadly fire, but amongst the blaze there he is holding the bucket that would extinguish her out. He’s so close but not close enough. She tries to scream out to him to push him away but it’s too late and she’s gasping for breath.

She wakes up abruptly and she clutches her chest to control her breathing. She turns to face her nightstand and sees the time is 3:06 am and she falls back down to be horizontal again. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes to try to fall asleep again. 

It’s been precisely four minutes and she can’t go back to sleep so she gets out of her bed with a huff. She grabs her phone on the way out of her room and quietly walks down the steps to make some tea. As she waits for the kettle to boil, she leans on her island and opens her phone. She pulls up her phone to text and opens it to his name just like she’s been doing these past seven (eight) days. He would definitely be awake but she hasn’t contacted him since she pushed him away that day at Pop’s.

It’s currently Monday morning and after seven days of investigating with Kevin, she’s coming up with nothing. There is no record of a ‘Sugarman’ anywhere and it’s causing stress to both Kevin and herself. They tried everywhere, from the Riverdale public library search engines to Thislehouse’s files. Betty and Kevin had asked Cheryl for any files that she could find and they came up with nothing. 

She is feeling a little hopeless if she’s being honest.

But Betty’s never given up so she’s going to drive to the ends of the Earth to figure this out if she has to. 

Jughead hasn’t messaged her the past week either so she figures he hasn’t found anything but she’s itching to text him.

After that dream, she thinks her brain is trying to tell her something. She doesn’t know the extent of what it is, but she knows it means something.

She pushed him away, and she set everything on fire. 

She types a message,

**_Betty [3:10]: you up?_ **

And hit send before she backs out. 

She places her phone face down on the benchtop and walks over to the boiling water. She grabs the jar of teabags, grabs an English Breakfast bag and plunks it into her cup before pouring the boiling water. As she walks towards the refrigerator to grab the milk, she looks anxiously at her phone when it vibrates against the counter. She grabs the milk, still looking at her phone, and walks back to her cup to add it in. She grabs sugar, adds a spoonful, stirs it in, then walks over to her phone while bopping the teabag in the water. She puts the mug down and picks up her phone.

**_Jughead [3:11]: Course. Are you okay?_ **

Betty chews her lip and the edges of her lip tilt up in a smile before turning down again. She grabs her tea and walks over to sit on her couch. 

**_Betty [3:13]: i don’t know. i just had a weird dream and i can’t sleep._ **

**_Betty [3:14]:_** **_i can’t stop thinking about you._**

Betty anxiously hits send and drops her phone on the couch. She puts both of her hands onto her mug and takes a sip. And another.

And another.

And another.

_ Why is he taking so long?  _

When her phone vibrates, she just stares at it for a minute.

She wishes she could text Veronica to help her.

**_Jughead [3:17]: I can’t stop thinking about you too. It’s driving me insane. And this investigation too. I don’t know how you’re investigating this but I’ve uncovered some stuff and it’s darker than we thought. I just want to talk to you. To see you. But...I don’t know what I’m allowed to do. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable around me._ **

**_Jughead [3:18]: Is there anything I can do for the dream?_ **

Betty inhales deeply as she reads the message and she bites her lip again. She can’t deny that she missed him over these last week and pushing him away is looking more and more like a stupid idea right now.

**_Betty [3:19]: can i call you?_ **

**_Jughead [3:19]: Go for it._ **

Betty hits the little phone icon on the corner of the screen and the phone rings once before he answers.

His husky voice is like music to her ears when he says, “Hey.” 

She smiles, “Hey Jughead. Look I’m sorry it’s so late bu—”

“No, it’s fine. I’m wandering around your school right now. I’ve got the night shift again.”

“Again? Even with everything going on? Is it safe?”

“Are you worried about me?” She can hear to smirk in his voice and she wants to march down to Riverdale High and slap it off his face. 

She decides to play one of his cards, “Well, no, not really. I couldn't care less if you ended up at the bottom of Sweetwater River.” 

“Dark Cooper. Dark. C’mon. I know you’re worried about me.” He says, more earnestly but still smugly.

“Well yeah. I’m worried about...everyone right now. The vibe in Riverdale is weird.”

“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that. You’re worried about me.” He states, matter-of-a-factly. 

She rolls her eyes and clicks her tongue, “So hey listen, I found the files. I’m pretty sure Kevin stole them.”

“Preppy? The guy who didn’t come with you on Saturday? Why him? Isn’t he like your partner in crime?”

“Yep. And I have no idea. Everything's coming up as a dead-end right now so please tell me what you found.” Betty says, tiredly. 

“Ok uh...Well, you know Hiram Lodge? He’s involved too. He owns like 20% of the Blossom Maple Farm. Another 20% goes to Cheryl, another one to Penelope and two 20’s go to two disclosed accounts. I’m guessing one of them is Weatherbee and another is ‘The Sugarman’.” 

“Wow. That’s great. How’d you get that?”

“Uh..don—don’t worry about that too much.”

“Oooh, who’d you have to kill to get that information?” Betty says with a smirk as she takes a sip of her now lukewarm tea. 

He scoffs and silence comes over them. They haven’t yet addressed the elephant in the room and she can feel the tension between them. 

Betty speaks after a few moments of silence, “Listen, um, I’m sorry. For...pushing you away. I just—this thing between us. You can feel it too, can’t you? It’s...strong. At Pop’s, when you looked at me? Held my hands? Talked to me? It was like,” she inhales and whispers, “I don’t know. Like we were magnets or like...magic. Everything around me blurred, I could only see you. I’d never felt that before. And I feel like pushing you away isn’t doing good for me either. And then this weird dream...” 

She scoffs and chuckles, “I feel like my own brain is trying to tell something.” 

He’s silent. Completely silent. She wants to ask if he’s still there but she knows he is because the phone call is still on. Then she hears a whisper, “Maybe you should listen to it.”

_ I really want to see you.  _ She  _ wants  _ to say.  _ I really want to kiss you.  _

“But maybe I was right for pushing you away. I want to keep you safe.”

“Betty,” She can hear him exhale as he tries to control himself. She knows that what she just said riled him up a bit, “I don’t care for my safety. And you shouldn’t either. I care about you whether we’re friends or more. I want  _ you  _ to be safe and I want to provide that for you. I don’t want to argue about this. Listen to your brain. Listen to your  _ heart.  _ I feel exactly what you’re feeling and I need to see you. I want to see you.” She can hear the faint sound of footsteps growing on the other side of the line. 

“Jug—”

“I’m coming to see you.”

“No Jug stop. Don’t.” She can hear him stop walking. 

“Betty. I need to come and see you.”

She checks the clock on the wall and shakes her head to herself before talking, “It’s almost 3:40 AM Jug. Just wait till morning. I’ll still be here.”

“Can I take you to school?”

“Jughead, you don’t go to my school.”

“Yet. There are whisperings of a merge.” 

“But you won’t tomorrow.”

“I can be late. Just let me pick you up.”

She exhales, “Ok, ok sure.” 

“Ok. Good. Look forward to it.” She hears the smile in his voice and it makes her smile.

“Yeah,” she chews her lip, “me too.”

Eventually, they hang up and Betty sits on her couch wondering if this is right or if she’s just made things worse. 

 

 

* * *

 

“And where are you off to so early young lady?”

Betty came to a halt just as she put her hand on the doorknob. It is 7:45 AM and Betty is trying to leave the house early so she could skip any of her mother's questions as to why she was getting on a motorcycle with a boy.

“Church. Where do you think I’m going?”  Betty deadpans before turning the doorknob. Alice raises her eyebrows and steps in front of Betty to block the door. Betty rolls her eyes in defeat and sighs, “Mom, I’m not Polly okay? I’m not doing shady things behind your back. I’m tired. Just let me go to school.”

After this mornings early wake up call, Betty couldn’t fall back asleep. She went back up to her room and tried to figure out what her next move is going to be in regards to her investigation.

She began formulating notes about how everything connects. The Lodges, who she has yet to properly divulge into their background, Weatherbee, whose purpose in this whole thing is getting particularly foggy, The Blossoms and Clifford’s alleged “suicide”, The Sugarman and the other disclosed account that Jughead uncovered. Betty made a plan to talk to Veronica and try to unearth some more details about the Lodges connections to all this. 

After Betty did that, it was around 5:30 AM and she got up to take a jog. She changed into her workout gear and jogged around the Northside, arriving back to Elm Street around 6:30, respectively. She had a shower, changed into her normal jeans and cardigan routine, pulled her hair into a sleek ponytail and headed back downstairs to make breakfast. She sat on the couch, ate her food and before she knew it, she heard the tell-tale sound of Jughead’s motorcycle revving. 

“I know you’re going to school, but I better be mistaken to think you’re going on  _ that _ motorcycle.” Alice crosses her arms over her chest and raises her perfectly plucked eyebrow while waiting for an answer.

“So what if I am?” Betty says, with a hint of venom.

Alice scowls and steps closer to Betty, “The only people that ride motorcycles in this town are Serpents.”

“Who are  _ also  _ the cops and law enforcement in this town so really, I’m perfectly safe.”

“Serpents are  _ still  _ Serpents Elizabeth. They still come from the Southside. They’re still lowlifes that sold drugs to get by.” Alice spits.

Betty scoffs and steps into her mother’s face with a smirk, “Oh right. You would know, wouldn’t you? Considering you  _ were  _ one.” 

“How dare y--”

Betty opens the door forcefully and walks through. She runs down her steps and into her driveway where Jughead’s motorcycle is parked. Jughead looks up from his phone and smiles before looking at her with concern, “Hey Betts, are you alright?”

Betty comes and stands in front of him and sighs, “Not really. Do you mind if we go to Pop’s first? I could really use some strong, bitter coffee.”

Jughead smirks and grabs his helmet from the handlebar, “Didn't fall back to sleep last night?”

“ _ That _ and my mother is lecturing me about the safety of Serpents and the Southside. Again. She’s infuriating.” Betty grabs Jughead’s helmet and puts in on her head as she straddles the bike. She thinks she hears Jughead say  _ hold tight _ but she’s already hugging him from behind, probably tighter than need be. 

  
  


* * *

 

“Stop staring at me.” 

Betty says as she walks to the booth next to the door, after ordering. She leans on the edge of the booth and crosses her arms.

“I can feel your eyes on me.” Betty turns around to see Jughead smirking. He bites his lip and steps closer to her, trapping her between the table and his body. He places his hands next to her body and looks at her lips for a moment before eyeing her again. She raises her eyebrow and bites her lip before speaking in a breathy whisper, “What are you doing?” 

He leans closer so that their faces are only inches apart and she swallows in anticipation,

“You look really good today,” 

“Juggie, wha--”

“Say it again.” His voice is husky as he looks at her lips again. Pop’s seems to once again blur into the background and she can only see him. His eyes darkened, lips parted, constellations of freckles lined perfectly against his skin. She smiles at his hair, floppy and adorable before reaching up and twirling it with her finger.

“What do you want me to say?” She whispers gently before biting her lip again.

“My name.” 

She looks into his darkened eyes and just as she’s about to whisper  _ Juggie  _ Pop yells, “Order up kids!” 

Jughead’s head sags in defeat and Betty chuckles before ducking under his arm to walk over to the counter to collect their order. Jughead shakes his head and walks up to Pop, “Really Pop? I’m going to get you back for that.”

Betty’s face is tinged in pink as she looks at the floor in embarrassment and Jughead mutters something like  _ Pop is cockblocking me _ before grabbing the drinks Pop hands to them. 

Pop chuckles and shakes his head innocently, “If you don’t head over now Jug, you’re going to be late for school. Assuming you’re dropping off Betty before you go. How would your father feel if you were late?” 

Jughead shrugs with a smirk, “He wouldn’t care Pop, he’s off surveying the streets and saving the world.”  

“And your mom?”

Jughead stiffens at that, his eyes cloud with seriousness and a soft scowl etches into his face before looking up at Pop with annoyance, “Gladys isn’t coming back Pop. I told you already.” 

Pop shakes his head in disappointment before clicking his tongue, “Come back tonight boy. I’ll give you some more food to take home.”

Jughead sighs in defeat and begins to walk away, “I can’t tonight Pop. Dad needs me. I’ll come by tomorrow.” 

Betty smiles softly at Pop and nods in thanks and starts to walk away. As Jughead walks out the door, Pop rounds to the corner and stops Betty gently, “Take care of that boy Betty. He may act like everything’s okay, but things have never been good at home.” 

Betty’s eyebrows furrow with concern before once again nodding and walking out.  

Betty walks down the steps and up to Jughead who’s leaning on his bike drinking his coffee. He passes her cup to her and nods when she thanks him. They stay silent for a moment before Betty walks closer to him and plants closer to him, 

“Are you okay?”

He looks up at her, scowl still etched into his face and he pulls his lips into a thin line and shrugs, “Just peachy.” 

Jughead looks back down to his coffee again, avoiding her eyes.

“Jug, do you want to talk about it?”

“No, I have to get you to school,” Jughead gets up, walks past Betty, dumps his cup into the dumpster and walks back to his bike. She thinks she sees him swipe under his eye but it ends before it even begins. Jughead straddles the bike and before he kicks it to life, Betty comes and cups his face in her left hand. She leans over the handlebars and forces his eyes to look at her. 

“What place did you just go to in your head? The place where you want to cry but you don’t want to show me, where you’re drifting off, thinking about something. You’ve been hurt Jughead. I’m not blind.”

He shakes her hand off his faces and stares at her, “Get on the bike Betty. Please.” He says, forcefully but softly. 

Betty nods in defeat and rounds the bike to straddle it. She puts on the helmet, puts her empty cup in her backpack and hugs him from behind again. Jughead starts to drive in the direction of Riverdale High and Betty moves her hands under his leather jacket and flannel so she can feel the thin material of his shirt. She rubs her hands against the hard plane of his toned stomach and she can feel him shudder beneath him. She rubs her helmet on his back to show that she’s there. 

When they stop for a moment, she can see him look back at her with something like gratitude in his eyes.

  
  
  


He drops her off at school around 8:20 and as she takes the helmet off, she can see people staring at them. She scoffs and his smirk comes back for a moment, “Looks like you’ll be the centre of attention today. Getting off a motorcycle with a leather-wearing miscreant.” 

She smiles, shakes her head and slaps him on the shoulder. Before she can remove her hand, he brings his hand up to hold it and his face turns serious again, “Thank you, Betty.”

She bites her lip and shakes her head again, “For what? I didn’t do anything.”

He lets go of her hands only to pull her closer to him by her waist, landing her right between his legs. She brings her forearms over to lean on his shoulders and plays with the bottom of his beanie. He clears his throat and eyes her lips before speaking again, “Thank you for being here.”

She creases her eyebrows together and smiles, “Of course.” She states like it’s obvious. 

He seems to pick up on it and he rubs his hands up and down her waist. “Well, we haven’t really known each other all that long. I haven’t earned the right to your trust yet.” He says.

She shivers under his touch and brings her hands around to cup his face, “Yeah, I know.” She pauses, 

“But I’m starting to like you Nighthawk.” 

“I’m way past ‘starting’ Betty.” 

They both stare at each other's lips and move closer towards each other before the bell sounds off and Jughead chuckles, “Yeah, this whole town is against us.” He lets go of her waist and she misses the warmth of his large palms against the indent of her hip instantly. She smiles, steps back and winks, “Soon.”

“Bye Cooper. Don’t get into too much trouble.” He smiles softly and she nods in goodbye. 

She turns around with a smile and she can hear his bike startup before driving past her. 

She bites her lip and begins to walk up to the front door when she hears the voice of a familiar voice behind her, 

“Elizabeth Cooper! Did I just see you get off a  _ motorcycle?!  _ I’m sorry but does Mama Cooper know about that?” 

Betty turns to see Kevin and Veronica approach her with curiosity. The smile on her face grows as she turns back round to keep walking. 

“No no B! I need to know  _ everything _ .” Veronica says as she pulls Kevin up to walk next to Betty and interlocks their elbows. Betty rolls her eyes and exhales loudly. 

Veronica came brewing like a storm into Riverdale sophomore year of high school, destined to create chaos and havoc with her New York heiress ways. She strutted into Riverdale High, the first day and knocked heads with Cheryl, declaring herself The Ice Princess. She wore a black pencil skirt, heels and a cape, with her signature pearls wrapped around her neck like a medal of achievement. Walking around with grace and confidence, Betty was intimidated by her but eventually, the two became the best of friends.

Betty stops walking, stopping both Kevin and Veronica, “There’s nothing to tell...yet.” 

Veronica gasps dramatically and Betty rolls her eyes and continues to walk.

“Yet, she says! Are we talking sex? Or a relationship?”

“Veronica! We haven’t even kissed yet!” 

Kevin pipes in, “But you two looked cosy? Where were you?”

“We just went to Pop’s. That’s it. He’s been helping me investigate...” Kevin looks at Betty expectantly and she rolls her eyes, “with the case. He works with the Sheriff.”

“Ugh boring!” Veronica untangles her arm from Betty’s and walks through the front door, “Call me when you guys get naughty.” 

“Wait! Veronica before you go...I need to talk to you later...alone.” Betty flicks her eyes apologetically at Kevin. “Sorry, Kev.” 

Kevin waves his hand dismissively as he stalks away to his locker and the two girls make plans to talk after school ends. 

 

 

* * *

 

“Did you know we  _ missed  _ a page in the files? How did we not see that there wasn’t a page between 4 and 6?” 

It was lunchtime and Betty had gone back to surveying any evidence the gang had already established. As she sat on her broken, mahogany desk with her floral computer mat, pages and pages of the retrieved file laid out in front of her, she discovered that page five had been missing. She guessed she had not found it in the first place due to the casualness of the segway between page four and six and how it didn’t sound like there was a page missing. She is now on the phone with Jughead and pacing next to her desk. 

“Okay wait wait wait wait wait, let me get to somewhere quieter.” 

Betty waits for a moment before she blurts out an onslaught of information, “So originally we just looked at the numbers and the amounts but we didn’t read any of this. The financial records from June indicate a pretty significant payment making its way into the annual arts budget for the school. In itself, it doesn’t seem  _ too _ strange considering the amount the different departments need to be sustained but I checked the other files with the bank statements and upon finding out that only  _ half _ of this “donation” went to the funding of the students and the department, I need to wonder where the rest of it went. 

“It’s pretty suspicious that the full amount wasn’t put in the bank account. So if it’s going to drugs or it  _ went _ to Clifford or it  _ goes _ to Hiram? I don’t know what this could mean but I’m guessing that fifth page could help us answer that question.” 

Jughead sighs loudly into his receiver and blows out a breath, “So you’re saying there’s a missing page that could basically tell us where the extra money is going which tells us the connection between Weatherbee and the Blossoms?”

Betty’s silent for a moment, “...basically.” 

“Okay. So we need to find that page.”

Betty rolls her eyes before she drops down on the Blue and Gold couch heavily, “No shit. Obviously, it was important and that’s why it was taken but we don’t know if it was there when we first got it at the school or after it was taken.” Betty crosses her legs over each other as she lays horizontally on the couch and leaned her head in the one overused pillow they use when a member has the occasional nap. 

“Well, we may need to ask Kevin and make him compromise himself. If he doesn’t have it...then...yeah we’re screwed.” 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence Jug.” 

“Well, we are. Where could that page  _ possibly _ be if not with Kevin? The office? With its original owner? How are we going to get it?” 

Betty sighs loudly again, “Yeah yeah you’re right. I don’t know.” 

Silence passes over them and a few minutes go by before Jughead speaks again, 

“Hey, Betty?” 

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go out. I wanna take you to a movie.”

Betty blushes and giggles before she plants her feet on the floor and leans back on the couch, twirling her hair wistfully, “Are you asking me on  _ date _ Juggie?” She bites her lip as she waits for an answer.

Jughead’s dark chuckle sends a shiver up Betty’s spine, “Yeah I guess.” 

“You’re trouble for me. With your Tall, Dark and Broody exterior and your soft inside. I don’t know what I’m gonna do with you.” 

“How about you let me take you on a date and you can do anything you want to me?” Jughead’s sexy proposition sends tingles straight to Betty’s core that she has to physically restrain herself from moaning in his ear. She bites her lip and crosses her legs, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

“Anything?” She says, seductively. She hears Jughead take a sharp inhale of breath like he’s trying to restrain himself as well. 

“I’ll let you do literally anything to me at this point.” Jughead’s voice sounds dark as he whispers into her ear. 

“That’s a naughty request.” 

Jughead is silent for a moment before he speaks,  “I’m going to hang up now. I have a thing to deal with.”

“Trust me, so do I. Bye Jug.”

Jughead finally lets out a groan before she hangs up with a giggle. 

 

 

* * *

 

“Veronica, I love you. You’re my other half. But right now, I need you to be completely transparent and honest with me. Okay?” 

Veronica sits down on her bed and tilts her head, “I love you V and I would never lie to you. What’s up?”

Betty sighs as she comes to sit next to Veronica on the bed and grabs her hand. Veronica has always been the better half of their friendship. She oozes confidence and affluence. Everything about her screams beauty. Betty is the girl people come to when they need help with their homework whereas Veronica’s the type to ask a dumb jock for help only to make out with them at the end of the night. Betty has always admired Veronica’s sense of assurance within herself and her ability to get what she wants with just a simple look. If people looked at them side to side, they couldn’t be more different but Veronica compliments Betty in a way Kevin or Archie never could. Archie is her brother, the boy who will always have her back even though he’s never around anymore. He’s off being School Captain™; stealing the hearts of the cheerleaders, Riverdale High’s resident Troy Bolton by being the school’s star quarterback and main guitarist and singer in the school band. Archie used to be the person Betty would go to when she didn’t know what to do but  _ now _ she barely sees him when she goes over to give Fred some cookies. 

Kevin thrives off drama and confrontation whereas Betty couldn’t hate it more. She’d much rather investigate quietly, minding her own business and not partake in any hushed whispers that travel across the school grounds. That’s also, Betty realises, what makes Kevin such a good partner. He gets information out of people and hunts people you wouldn’t normally think to hunt. Although he’s great as a partner--stolen files aside, which they have yet to determine the reasoning for--he’s just not the friend Betty needs like she needs Veronica. 

Betty and Veronica’s friendship started from the first day Veronica came to Riverdale. After a tour, a forced cheerleading tryout and a kiss, they were turned Riverdale High’s Iconic Duo. 

Betty sighs and grabs Veronica’s hands, “Do you know  _ anything _ about a bank account your father has that is linked to the Blossoms?” 

Veronica takes a sharp intake of breath and lets go of Betty’s hands. She stands quickly and begins to pace, “How do you know about that?” 

“Huh, that’s not the reaction I wanted,” Betty mutters before she stands and stops Veronica by her hands. Veronica turns and faces Betty. Betty gives her a small smile before rubbing her thumbs across Veronica’s hands and sighing,

“Okay, I’ve been doing some research about the Blossoms and their connections with the underground drug world. It’s a big maze and it’s really confusing but your family’s name has come up once or twice. I just wanted to know if you knew anything, is all.” Betty says, rubbing her hands up Veronica’s forearms to calm her down.

Veronica sighs and drags Betty back to sit on the bed with her, still holding her hands. Veronica clears her throat nervously before speaking, “Daddy told me not to say anything--” Betty beings to interrupt only to have Veronica say, “But! But, you’re my best friend. And I would feel bad lying to you.”

Betty nods and signals her to continue. Veronica sighed, “So when we moved into town, it wasn’t because we  _ wanted  _ to. Daddy saw a business venture and he took it. Now, I thought it was just property and buildings and stuff but one day, a few months ago, I was snooping through Daddy’s stuff and found a page about the drugs. And all the accounts leading back to the drugs, that are being provided by Clifford. There were a few disclosed accounts and I can’t help you on that but yeah.” 

Betty looks at Veronica, frozen but secretly bursting with all the information. Veronica continues and bites her lip, “Whatever you’ve seen about accounts being equal and stuff is all true.  _ But _ , it  _ did _ make Daddy very,  _ very _ upset...

And I’m scared he had something to do with Clifford’s sudden death that might not be a suicide after all.” 

 

 

tbc. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are much appreciated especially for a newbie like me :)
> 
> If you want more...comment :P
> 
> and/or...
> 
> follow me on Tumblr: @mrscolesprouse and on Twitter @mrscolesprouse_

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos are much appreciated especially for a newbie like me :)
> 
> If you want more...comment :P
> 
> and/or...
> 
> follow me on Tumblr: @mrscolesprouse, on Twitter @mrscolesprouse_ and on Insta @mrscolesprouse__


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